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KRYS OCEAN RACE – Musandam-Oman Sail crossed the finish line of the KRYS OCEAN RACE at the heart of the Tonnerres de Brest at 00:05:38 CET on Friday 13 July, having completed their first transatlantic race in a remarkable 5 days 7 hours 5 minutes and 38 seconds despite sustaining damage in the first 36 hours.
They actually covered a total of 3,341nm at an average speed of 26.28 knots and finished as the fourth Multi One Design 70 trimaran in the inaugural event of the Multi One Design Circuit, 9 hours 57 minutes and 1 second behind race winners Spindrift.
Sidney Gavignet’s arrival in Brest also marked a major milestone in the lives and careers of Fahad Al Hasni and Mohsin Al Busaidi who became the first Omanis to complete a transatlantic race on board an Omani boat.
Their contribution has been immense, said skipper Gavignet and despite limited experience, their progress over the five express race days, deeply impressive.
“Since they left Lorient, the difference in Fahad and Mohsin has been huge in terms of attitude, work rate, knowledge of manoeuvres and what we should be doing next,” said Gavignet.
“They have contributed hard work and good humour to our team. They have become excellent seamen and superb mariners. It’s been fantastic having them on board.”
Musandam-Oman Sail’s race had started promisingly when they crossed the New York start line on Saturday July 7 and for the first 24 hours, were at the front of the fleet. But just before midnight the following day, the boat slowed and they realised there was a problem with their port foil.
It had failed and as a result, the boats performance fell to around 70% capacity though favourable conditions offset the effects of the damage since they were able to race on starboard tack for the majority of the race without any need to gybe until the closing stages.
Even without the go faster foil, Musandam-Oman Sail was still able to maintain breakneck speeds of 30 knots, helped by the ideal conditions that prevailed throughout most of the race, and reached a maximum speed of 39 knots. But three other boats were faster for longer, a fact that was reflected in the final results.
“Everyone has been surprised by the performance of the boats,” Gavignet added.
“We all knew they had potential but none of us quite knew how much. I feel sure we would have finished with the other boats had the foil not failed but we have more than met our objectives for the race so we are very happy.”
Fahad Al Hasni said he was looking forward to spending one hour in the shower and two days sleeping.
“We are feeling so good – I am proud of my team because we did a very good job right from the start of the race. This has been a very important project for Oman Sail and I’m so proud to be involved. It is the first time that Mohsin, myself and the team have done this race and we feel we have been a small part in making a piece of Omani history.”
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